Abstract
BACKGROUND: LC-3 and P62, two of important autophagy-related proteins, were reported highly expressed in many kinds of human malignancies and associated with outcomes of the patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression status of LC-3 and P62 in non-small cell lung cancer patients and define the clinical-pathologic features. METHODS: 66 cases of non-small cell lung cancer patients were employed. The expression of LC-3 and P62 were detected by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: LC-3 was positive stained in 27 out of 66 cases (40.9%) and P62 was positive stained in 43 out of 66 cases (65.2%). LC-3 positive staining was more frequently in squamous cell carcinoma patients (P<0.05); while P62 positive staining was more frequently in late-stage adenocarcinoma patients with metastasis (P<0.05). There was a significant negative correlation between LC-3 and P62 expressions in non-small cell lung cancer tissues (rs=-0.065, P<0.001). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients with positive LC-3 expression had favorable clinical outcomes compared with the patients with negative LC-3 expression (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: LC-3 and P62 showed abnormal expression in non-small cell lung cancer tissues, suggesting that autophagy is involved in the occurrence and development of NSCLC.